UFC 144

[Kiwon]

That was a great title match between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

Five solid rounds of action. The Lightweight division is stacked with talent. Good stuff!

Loved also the Judo throws, trips of Akiyama against a tough Jake Shields. Things of beauty. Hated to see the guy grab the cage - twice!

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/mma/28430742;_ylt=AvD3zGuNuVD925k4EiZr2w09Eo14#mma/28430742

[Deputy Nutz]

The title fight was a really good fight. I thought the fight was close but Henson did way more damage in every round, Edgar's left eye was starting to swell at the end of the first round.

Rampage missing weight and claiming injury is retarded, I never really heard of a really bad knee injury that didn't require surgery. I tore my MCL and it didn't require surgery, but I could have jogged and worked off extra weight regardless of a torn MCL, getting onto the mat and wrestling was a different story though. Rampage needs to reevaluate why he is fighting. Because he has dogged it far too many times in the UFC.

[Kiwon]

Despite Jackson's past, I have never been that impressed with him. The current crop of fighters are just phenomenal athletes and getting better. Ramage's time has come and gone. He looked tired by the end of the 3rd round and apparently those six extra pounds cost him around $250,000. Darwin award winner.

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans on 4/21 should be a war, maybe a 5-round classic.

[Deputy Nutz]

I think Rashad will be lucky to make it out of the second round. He doesn't have the reach or the wrestling ability to beat Jones. I would like to see Rashad win, but I think Jones is just better at everything that makes Rashad a good fighter.

[Kiwon]

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans on 4/21 should be a war, maybe a 5-round classic.

Alright! Today's the day.

Jones is favored but anything can happen. One thing for sure, these former friends don't like each other and it will definitely not be a boring fight. Can't wait.

[Deputy Nutz]

I can't stand Jon Jones, he tries so hard to be humble but loves the third person, anyone that refers to themselves in the third person ain't all that humble. I am not a huge "Sugar" fan but I do hope he figures out Jon Jones, no one else has, he is kind of like the Woody of the UFC.

Keys to the fight

Rashad
Needs to keep the fight close in the first two rounds. He needs to test Jones in the later rounds and you can't do that when you are laying out unconscious.
Utilize head movement and footwork, it is ok to stay on the outside for the first few rounds, but Rashad has to keep moving and then counter punch his way out.
When Rashad goes on the offensive he needs to penatrate on his power double and get into Jones' legs. and if he can't get him down right away he needs to drive him into the fence and grind on him. If Rashad still has the strength over Jones he should win the battle against the cage.
Rashad should go back and watch the first Couture/Liddell fight, and watch how Couture was able to out strike the striker. He needs to muddle things up, get down and dirty.

Jones
Jon needs to cut the octagon off, press the actions against Rashad and limit his movement in the cage. If Jones gets Rashad cornered the fight will be over.
Jon should keep utilizing his leg kicks, they are brutal and will force Rashad to change his game plan if they are landed effectively.
Mix it up, Jon Jones throws everything at his opponents, do the unexpected, out wrestle Rashad, Jones has the skill set to do it. If he puts Rashad on his back the fight will be over with Jones' reach.

I still can't predict a way that Rashad wins this fight, but Rashad has been in the Octagon longer, and should handle his emotions better than the younger, and less experience Jones, but that won't stop Jones' reach. Jones should finish this fight once he calms down. I can't see Rashad making it out of the 3rd round. If Rashad makes it past the 3rd round, especially if the first 3 round are brutal rounds, I give the edge to Rashad in the championship rounds. Jones has gone the distance once and that was a three round decision with Stephan Bonnar.
Again I predict the fight being finished by round three, but if goes the distance I suspect that Jones will win 3 rounds to 2.

[Deputy Nutz]

Well I was right and I was wrong. Jones wasn't able to finish Evans, and for all the shit that was talked, Evans certainly didn't show up to fight, or at least lay it on the line. He was content to just get beat up. Evans went for 2 takedowns, and refused to even try and throw punches in bunches, because that is the only way to beat Jones, not throwing one punch, or one kick and then eating 3 or 4 nifty elbows in return. Someone will be able to knockout Jones, but they are going to have to commit to it, and not puss out like Evans. Evans proved he can take a beating, and as the old saying goes, when you try not to lose versus trying to win, you get your ass kicked. Jones could of and should have finished the fight, but his corner led by Greg Jackson really put the breaks on the kid, they kept telling him to protect, good advice in keeping his hands up, but they certainly didn't stress about trying to finish the fight.

Some great beatdowns tonight on the card, McDonald is a monster, to bad GSP won't fight him.

[Kiwon]

Overall, I was disappointed in the fight. Evans just did not go for it after round 2. He took some big shots (elbow, shoulder) and maybe he sensed his gameplan was simply not going to work. He fought, but he really did not fight like he wanted to be champion again. Jones with his heighth and being 8 years younger just seemed to have an edge. He's got more "game" both inside and outside of the ring. He is definitely making himself more marketable. I liked the fact that Jones showed a lot of humility after his win and reached out to Rashad at the post-fight presser. He's got the makings of a superior champ.

Yeah, McDonald's a bad boy. Scary at 22.

I was laughing at Ben Rothwell's awkward one punch KO of Brendan Schaub. Schaub looked like he could easily handle Big Ben and then "boom" - he's lying on the canvas grasping for imaginary legs or arms. The UFC's crazy. Anything can happen at any moment.

Speaking of crazy, Frank Mir creeps back into a title match versus Junior dos Santos. Mir cracks me up when he's not breaking arms. dos Santos is pretty lean at 6-4, 240. I wonder if Mir will stay heavy or drop some weight. That fight could easily go 5 rounds.

The UFC has some great fights coming up this year.

[Deputy Nutz]

Everyone is pretty high on Dos Santos and people don't think Mir will be able to stand with him. I don't think he will either, his best bet is to get this fight to the ground, he has the best sub skills in the heavyweight division if not MMA. I used to really dislike Mir, but he has grown on me. I will be pulling for him in this fight and that is not because I dislike Dos Santos, Dos Santos is a pretty classy guy and a great fighter.

Schaub should be embarrassed he got koed from that punch, that might have been the funniest reaction I have ever seen to someone getting KTFO, He looked like a turtle stuck on his back.

Here is the problem with talking so much shit before a fight, you look like a complete dumbass if you get KTFO in the second round, so when you realize that your game plan isn't working, you try and save face by lasting 5 rounds instead, of sucking it up, alternating on the fly and selling out. I also think the fact that Evans might have suffered some facial fractures from those elbows in the 3rd round might have had something to do with Evans fighting like a turtle for the final 2.5 rounds

[Deputy Nutz]

Sherdog.com

Fighting doesn't solve everything. Sometimes a fight doesn't end a rivalry.

Long after both had retired, Joe Frazier was asked to reflect on Muhammad Ali. "I want to cut him into pieces and send him up to Jesus," said "Smoke."

Decades after their third fight, when a tottering Ali lit the Olympic flame at the Atlanta games, Frazier let on that he'd like to push him into the flames.

On FUEL TV’s post-fight show Evans sounded a familiar note.

“I still don’t like (Jon Jones),” said Evans. “He fought a good fight and I got to respect him as a fighter, and I had respect for him as a fighter before, but no, I still don’t, nah…

“I’ll tell you what, we’re gonna fight again.”

At the post-fight press conference Evans offered a detailed breakdown of the fight.

“I just think I was flat when I came out,” Evans said. “I had a great camp, but sometimes you don’t feel it. There were times in the fight when I felt like I could have done something, but I didn’t pull the trigger when I needed to. I’ll have to go back and see what I did wrong.”

“I got out-slicked. I thought I would get him. I felt his timing was off, and it’s never off, so I felt he was nervous. Then he started playing that hand game. When he touched me, I knew he’d go for an elbow. I wanted to time it and take him down, but he caught me every time.

“It was difficult. He was so long and it was just frustrating. Whenever he hit me with something, I couldn’t let him know how bad it hurt. He’s a talented kid, and he has gotten a lot better, like I thought he would. I have to give him respect. He’s a champion.”

“To try to take him down is pretty hard to do. If I got a shot, I would take it but wouldn’t force anything. I wasn’t creative enough. Once, I threw an inside leg kick, and he checked it with his knee. I couldn’t really bounce after that. I lost the springs in my shoes.”

“I wanted to put more pressure on him, but didn’t I want to rush (into) those long knees. I tried to attack when he least expected, but I didn’t throw enough combinations. That was the story of the night for me, not getting off first. I didn’t follow up. I have no one to blame but myself.

“I started playing a game, and I knew better than to play it. What threw me off was his front kick. I originally planned to go to the body first and work my way up, but I was never able to do that.”

“It takes a while for it to sink in. I still gotta go home and probably cry a little bit. You never know what can happen in the future. We were friends before, but we’ll probably be competing against each other again, so we’ll have to keep it on that level.”

“Since I’ve gotten older, I handle setbacks better. Things can always be worse, even when you think you’re at rock bottom. I can take that and say, ‘Even though I lost today, I can come back and try to be champion again."


Looks like Rashad felt the same way we did.

[Kiwon]

Rashad's chance was on the ground but he didn't or couldn't go there. I just think Jones won the psych game. Even though Evans had the Atlanta crowd, he seemed to buy into the narrative that Jones is the talented young buck surpassing the former champ and former training partner.

One can't underestimate Greg Jackson's influence too. He keeps his fighter's minds right first. Everything starts in the mind.

I am surprised at Evans' candor at the presser. He basically admitted that he doubted himself. HOW do you come out "flat" for a fight like that that had so much build up?